Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-02-05

III along me ma o. uascle.
aThe chaTgel" cry chiefs Of lines and col
umns 70 their buglers. And they command:
six beyonetsl Forwardr
aFix bayonstsl Forward" repeat the
officers.
aForwardl Forward" shout the soldiers.
And on al sides rings the charge, brisk and
sonorous, sounded by a hundred ~clarions,
beaten by Q hundred drums.
Tho soldiers rush forward with agile steps,
bead advanced, bayonst fixed, knapsack
swinging on the back, scabbard beating the
thigh. cartridge box, haversack and canteen
Tapping against the sides. Following the ad-
vance up the field to the assault, REINFORCED
by all the reserves Of the first line, come other
troops deployed in line Of battle or serried
into columns. Az far a. tho view extends
there il a succession of long ranges and deep
masses Of foot soldiers, who rush forward
with great velocity. Each presses forward as
il eager for his part Of the drop to drink"
And "the charge" continues, more ardent
and more rapid, ut each repetition accelerat-
ing the measure. And clambering over the
escarpments, traversing the underground,
crossing tho rice fields, scaling the ramparts
of the trenches, the soldiers sweep along under
the shells, the shrapnel, the grape and in the
fearful storm Of bullets.
And the bugles and the drums, those sound.
ing the chant and those making the bass, re-
peat the two unique phrases Of "the charge"
the one lifting as by an effort, the other ex-
ulting as in triumph.
That demoniac air begins to rouse the CON-
batants, and they strain forward under its
movement This approaches q macte amino!
q sursum corda!
After some repetitlons the effect on the
soldiers becomes purely physical. They ad-
vance to that sound automatically. Fatigue
disappears, obstacles are efaced, the idea of
death-possible, nay probable-vanishes. 1t
seems as il they had neither reason nor sensa-
ton. They dream Of nothing, they see moth.
ing, but they un, moved by an irresistible
impulsion. They are drunk, drunk to mad
ness, without motive, with only confusion for
thought. Rifles are lowered, bayonets gilt
ter, balls whistle, and, striking their mark,
men fall with hideous wounds in their heads;
they run on, they run to meet the bullets,
they run against the bayonets. They are like
the whirling dervishes Of Scutari. Tn charge,
which gives to the corps an impetuous elan,
at the same time throws the spirit into that
sort of torpor that may be ikened to the
oriental melop0iA produced by the CULTURAL
chants and exciting monotones of the rebec
and debourka-
And the charge swells, increasing the
rhythm moro and more. Brazen trumpets
that are no longer blown rattle in the onset,
tho drummers, hampered by their instru.
ments, beat them, as they run, with a single
hand. And the rougher grows the sound the
more it augments the spirit.
They are nearly man to man, separated
only BY some dozens Of meters. The soldiers
grasp their weapons in both hands. prepared
for q blody shock. The fire Of the defense is
feeble; it ceases. There is a wavering Of the
enemy's lines; his hesitation increases. De-
moralization sets in n panic ensues. The
spirit is still up and there is one more onward
rush. The last breath of the charge is
sounded. We are in position. The victory
is ours!
M. Ernest Renan said that year, before the
assembled French Academy, that the worth
Of a work was to be measured by its effect.
What septuor, what symphony, what opera
can equal, then, the seventeen measures of
"the charge" What long poem, what fault
less sonnet vies with the refrain:
ny . Ia goutte a boire,
La bak
ny q Ia goutte q boire.
Henry Houssaye.